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Luhnow anticipates Correa signing soon

Luhnow anticipates Correa signing soon

Shortstop Carlos Correa talks to the MLB Network crew about being selected first overall by the Astros in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft

By Brian McTaggart
/
MLB.com |

HOUSTON -- Shortstop Carlos Correa, the top overall pick in Monday's First-Year Player Draft, is scheduled to be in Houston on Thursday to meet with Astros officials, who hope to finalize a deal with the 17-year-old product of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said Tuesday that Correa and his family will meet with the club and perhaps don a Houston jersey and take batting practice at Minute Maid Park if a deal can be reached. Major League Baseball's prescribed bonus for the No. 1 overall pick is $7.2 million.

"The expectation is we can make some progress and move pretty quickly and get him signed," Luhnow said.

Correa, 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, became the highest-drafted Puerto Rican high school player in Major League history by going No. 1 overall to Houston.

He has signed to play at the University of Miami, but it certainly appears he's on the verge of starting his pro career.

"We're going to bring him in here on Thursday, and you guys [the media] are going to get a chance to meet him and we're going to get a chance to sit down and talk with him and his family, and hopefully that will move quickly at that point," Luhnow said.

Once signed, Correa would report to extended spring camp at the club's complex in Kissimmee, Fla. -- the same place where Correa blew the Astros away in a May 27 workout -- before beginning his career with the Gulf Coast League Astros at the same site.

Luhnow said he expected to sign all of the Astros' top 11 picks in the first 10 rounds, including No. 41 overall pick Lance McCullers Jr., a pitcher from Tampa, Fla. Houston can spend a combined $11.177 million on its first 11 picks without getting penalized.

The Astros have until July 13 to sign their Draft picks.

"We feel pretty good that we're going to sign all 11 players we drafted," Luhnow said.

Luhnow said he expects signing McCullers -- who has a signing bonus of $1.258 million -- will take a bit longer than some other players.

"There's a little more work to do there," he said. "We're going to wait until the Draft is over and start to come up with a plan there. I like to take more time with pitchers. They need some rest [because] they've had a long spring. He's obviously had a successful spring, but it would wear on anybody. You have to give him rest.

"There's no urgency. As with Correa and any of these types of players, we want to get that pick out quickly so we can benefit."

Luhnow said the team could announce a flurry of signings on Thursday.

"We've got a pretty good feel for what players are asking for and we have a very good feel for what recourse we have," he said. "Where there's a match, we're going to have to execute it immediately. Our scouts are heading back [Wednesday], and the first task of business is signing the players they drafted."